Church Bells
by Chalice Jang
Summary: *Kleenex alert* A depressing story about Duo recalling his death-filled past. Duo x Original Character. Read and Review please!


"Where is she?" He wondered as church bells rang...  
  
By: Chalice Jang  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Big, cool, important people do, so don't sue me! Also,  
  
I don't know if this is really the truth about Duo's past. I just felt the need to explain it myself  
  
^-^''. Please read and review!  
  
---  
  
As the stranger in a black trench coat collapsed exhausted on the church floor, he  
  
realized he was the sole person in the deserted building. He lay there for a few minutes trying to  
  
collect his thoughts. The only thing that he could remember at the present moment were his painful memories from his past. The dingy church brought back so many of them. All that he knew was  
  
that he spent the last of his hard-earned money to buy a ticket to get back to L2 colony, and  
  
walked for two days straight in the cold, bone-chilling snow until he found a place that looked  
  
similar to his home town. He didn't even know what day it was. "This has to be the place!" he thought. He felt inside that it was the right church, although there was no way he could tell.  
  
There was no longer a sign outside, but, strangely the church was in fairly good condition.  
  
Though his head was pounding and he was dizzy with fatigue, and all that he wanted to  
  
do was ease the pain in his head, he forced himself to remember what he saw just before he  
  
entered the church. He had seen the graveyard, and he did not want to stop to look at it, but  
  
he knew that he had to find out, to satisfy his curiosity. He recalled the depressing sights from  
  
just a few minutes ago: "Amie Lamiya, Born AC 180, Died AC 192", "Justin Duiy, Born  
  
AC 179, Died AC 192.", "Lira Kimara, Born AC 181, Died AC 193.", and the most painful  
  
one of all: "Solo Samurai, Born AC 180, Died AC 186." Though he thought he would be  
  
relived when he didn't find one more, he felt a strange sinking feeling inside. He would never  
  
get to see where his true loved one was buried. Unfortunately he knew the cause of the  
  
deaths of the people lying under the weathered gravestones. Amie, Justin, and Lira had all  
  
died during the beginning of the horrible, terrible war that he himself had helped to end. He  
  
felt that Solo's death was his own fault, though. "If only I would have hurried more. If  
  
only I would have not been so greedy. If only..." He felt that his guilt of his best friend's  
  
death would never be wiped free of his conscience. Suddenly, a haunting melody then began  
  
to play in the church, as if the sound came out of nowhere. The stranger felt goose bumps rise  
  
on the back of his neck as a response to the eerie music. Duo Maxwell, 16 years old,  
  
passed out on the cold church pew, but before he did, he remembered one solitary memory,  
  
for one split second...  
  
***  
  
He was 7 years old. "Duo!" a voice called, "Silly, come over here and help me  
  
decorate the tree!"It was almost Christmas. Normally, Duo would be bouncing off the  
  
walls in anticipation of Christmas, but this time it was different. He was sitting on his little  
  
cot, looking seriously depressed for a seven-year-old. His best friend had died tragically  
  
about 1 year ago. From this devastating event, Duo would never be the same. Remember  
  
your promise... Duo's promise brought him back to reality. I will keep the promise to my  
  
dying day! He immediately sprung to his feet and ran over to help his friend Katie decorate  
  
the tree. He had always had feelings for Katie, but he never said anything, or did anything  
  
about them. Amie was playing Christmas carols in the background, and she was currently  
  
playing "What Child is This?" This brought back more of Duo's memories.  
  
Duo had been part of a child-gang about a year ago. There were six kids in the gang,  
  
three girls, two other guys, and himself. They were all orphans. Once, a deadly virus had  
  
broke out among colony L2. Nobody was aloud to enter or leave the colony for fear of  
  
further transmitting the disease. The poor little kid gang was only used to stealing enough food  
  
to keep themselves alive, but they were really scared of the disease, because they relied on each  
  
other to keep alive. People were dying in the streets by the hand fulls. Finally, little Duo could no longer take living in fear of dying every day. He volunteered to travel on foot for a day to get to  
  
a well-known hospital to get the vaccine, which they would most likely have. He was exhausted  
  
when he got to the hospital, but he could not rest, for fear that he might get caught and be taken  
  
to an orphanage, for he was in a quite ritzy part of colony L2. He stood in the shadows for a few seconds to catch his breath, and then snuck in the back entrance of the kitchen where hopefully  
  
no one would notice him.  
  
He crept past the fat cook, who was humming a quite cheerful tune. Duo then quietly  
  
turned the doorknob to get into the main hallway of the hospital. He saw a very serious-looking  
  
room, which he decided would be a good place to start looking for the vaccine. Little Duo had  
  
taken a very lucky guess. As he crept into the room, he saw a tall doctor with a syringe in his  
  
hand. He recognized the disease that the patient had, for he saw it every day. The patient  
  
waiting for the miracle shot was a scary sight. He had lines under his eyes, which were quite  
  
bloodshot. The patient had a terrible hacking cough, and looked undernourished.  
  
Duo eyes scanned the room, and he saw a rack full of little tubes, and an empty,  
  
sparkling syringe on the table. He snuck past the tall doctor, who was now calming down  
  
the patient who he was about to give the shot to. Duo could barely reach the table, but he  
  
managed to get the syringe. He then grabbed a handful of the vaccine tubes, and ran for his life.  
  
When he got out of the hospital, and a bit away from the ritzy part of town, he finally  
  
stopped and looked at the wonderful sight before him. He had managed not to drop any of the life-saving supplies in his rush to get away. He sat down and thought: Well, lets see here, there is only enough vaccine in each tube for one of us. Here is one for Katie, one for Lira, one for Amie, one for Justin, one for Solo, and ut-oh! I don't have one for myself! This is bad. Ok, don't panic, I'll survive... somehow.  
  
Even though his mission was completed safely, Duo walked home with sad thoughts. He  
  
was in a delirious state, and reached home before he knew it. He was greeted with mixed  
  
emotions. "Hey guys! I got the stuff!" Duo cried, with a fake smile on his face. Right away, Katie, Justin, Amie and Lira surrounded him. He showed them the vaccine and the syringe in the palm of  
  
his little hand, but all of a sudden, Lira pushed every one else away, and started to whisper in Duo's ear.  
  
"Before you start, I think you should go look at Solo." Lira whispered solemnly.  
  
Duo walked quickly into the abandoned warehouse where they lived at. A grubby  
  
blanket was laid out in a corner of the room, on which a huddled form sat on. He approached  
  
the small shape, and he could barely recognize it as Solo. He had already gotten the disease,  
  
but Solo looked much worse than the patient Duo had seen at the hospital. Solo's eyes were big  
  
and swollen, and his eye lids could barely cover them. His stomach was also swollen, and it  
  
looked like he was going to burst. He couldn't drink or eat anything. The suffering he was in  
  
looked intolerable. When he coughed, it sounded like he was going to cough up his whole  
  
stomach. Duo felt like he was going to cry, and then Katie came up to him.  
  
"It's too late for him. I know you only got 5 tubes of the cure. Take Solo's. I know  
  
you were gonna go without it and give it to him. That is a sign of true loyalty. You really are  
  
his best friend. Take it yourself; it's too late for him."  
  
Duo was going to protest, but then started to think about it. He then filled up the  
  
syringe and gave the first shot to Amie. Then to Lira, and then Justin, and Katie. Duo filled  
  
up the syringe for the last time, took one last look at the barely- recognizable Solo, and then  
  
gave himself the miracle shot, and he regretted it right away. "Baka, baka, baka! Why  
  
did I do that? Why did I listen to Katie? I could have survived! Solo would have  
  
lived! No!"  
  
Then Solo's scratchy, tired voice called Duo to his side. "Thank you for doing that,"  
  
Solo started. "I don't stand a chance now, and if you would have gave me the shot, we  
  
might have both died. Don't feel greedy. Think of it as a Christmas present from me. After  
  
all, it is Christmas Eve. Just promise me on thing"  
  
Solo whispered the promise into Duo's ear, and out of his own guilt, Duo vowed that  
  
he would keep that promise to his dying day.  
  
About one half hour later, all six kids were laying on their little blankets that they used  
  
as beds. Duo looked around the room. Amie, Justin, Solo, and Lira had already fallen  
  
asleep. He couldn't really tell if Katie was awake, but when she started singing, Duo knew  
  
that she was indeed awake. Her beautiful voice carried across the room to him. Ironically,  
  
it was the one song he could remember his mother singing to him.  
  
"What child is this,  
  
who laid to rest  
  
on Mary's lap, is sleeping?"  
  
Duo really thought that he was going to cry now, but he could vaguely remember his  
  
mother's sweet voice saying to him "Strong boys don't cry." Since Duo really loved his  
  
mother even though she had died before Duo really got to know her, he didn't cry. He finally  
  
drifted off to sleep to the sound of Katie's soft melody, but before he did, he realized that  
  
Katie might have saved his life by making him take the vaccine.  
  
When he woke up in the morning, there was a funeral feeling in the air. He didn't  
  
even have to ask. He saw Solo's still body. Solo had died. On Christmas Day. Duo then  
  
proclaimed to his friends that he would change his name as an act of true friendship. He  
  
would no longer use his old name. Solo was a part of him, and when him and Solo were  
  
together, they were quite a duo, so his new name was Duo.  
  
***  
  
Duo woke up and remembered where he was. The church floor was still frigid  
  
underneath him, and the haunting melody was still in the air. There was now a voice  
  
accompanying it.  
  
"What child is this,  
  
who laid to rest  
  
on Mary's lap, is sleeping?"  
  
The voice sounded hauntingly familiar. He recognized the other sound as a piano.  
  
He rushed toward the back of the church and saw a petite figure hunched over the piano.  
  
Duo just stood there, not sure what to do.  
  
"Ah, so you're finally awake. You were out cold for about an hour, and I played this  
  
piano for you the whole time. It was quite nice of me considering it is Christmas Eve. It was  
  
also nice of me to rebuild this whole church just for you, Maxwell. I felt it was my duty to."  
  
The mysterious person said.  
  
"Who are you?" Duo asked.  
  
"Answer me one question first. How did you always manage to stay so cheerful after  
  
your best friend died that Christmas Day? Your ability to go on amazed me, and inspired me." The girl said.  
  
"How do you know that? Were you spying on us, in that warehouse? Well, you  
  
know how he whispered into my ear the night before he died? Well he asked me to promise  
  
that I would live his life for him. So I lived the happiest life I could for Solo. I had to. It was  
  
my fault that he died. I was so greedy. I don't know why I ever listened to Katie, and took  
  
the vaccine myself! No, I lie. I know why I listened to her. I loved her, even when I was  
  
only six years old. Although it doesn't matter now, she is gone, just like the rest of the group."  
  
As he said this, Duo hung his head in shame.  
  
"So the person that you love most was the one responsible for your best friend's  
  
death? Or was it yourself that was responsible. Or was it just too late to do anything?" The  
  
person at the piano spun around to face him as she said this. It was a girl about his age, with  
  
auburn hair and dark greenish-hazel eyes. The face was not very youthful. It looked like it  
  
had been through a lot, just like Duo.  
  
"Well, do you recognize me Duo?" The girl asked.  
  
"Oh, my God. Is it really you? Did you do that to save my life? Or did you do it just  
  
to see Solo die and make me feel guilty about it?" Duo spat at her in anger.  
  
"You should know the answer to that," Katie said softly.  
  
Duo collapsed into Katie's arms, and for the first time in his life, cried.  
  
"Strong boys do cry," Katie whispered into his ear.  
  
"I love you, Katie," Duo murmured into Katie's shoulder. 


End file.
